Emeritus Professor of Mathematics

The Harvey Mudd College community mourns the loss of Courtney Coleman, beloved emeritus professor of mathematics, who died on Dec. 2, 2023 at the age of 93. Coleman joined the College in 1959 as an assistant professor of mathematics, arriving from Wesleyan University where he previously served as a faculty member. During his tenure at Harvey Mudd, Coleman served as chair of the Department of Mathematics and as chair of the faculty.

Coleman received his B.A. (1951) from UC Berkeley, and an M.A. (1953) and PhD (1955) from Princeton University. He was a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematics Association of America and the Board of Editors of the serial “Contributions to Differential Equations.” In his book, Harvey Mudd College: The First Twenty Years, Founding President Joseph Platt mentions Coleman’s years of distinguished service. And each fall, the Courtney S. Coleman Prize is given to rising junior students who have demonstrated excellence in math.

“Courtney was my favorite professor at Harvey Mudd and a real inspiration to me,” says Rich Zucker ’74, a former student of Coleman’s. “I will always remember him with affection and enormous gratitude for the difference he made in my life. When I lived in South Dorm during my first year at Mudd, his office was just a few steps away from my room. We talked often. He was a wonderful, wonderful man, and I feel his loss deeply.”

Coleman was honored by the College in 1993 with the Henry T. Mudd Prize (he was the second recipient) to honor his outstanding service.

In addition to excellence in teaching and leadership, Coleman wrote and co-authored many publications. Along with the late Robert Borrelli, a fellow mathematics professor, Coleman co-authored Differential Equations: A Modeling Perspective, a textbook used in many advanced math courses at the College and the basis of later-published books in differential equations. Coleman and Borrelli also co-authored several papers, including A Project Approach in Differential Equations Courses, to introduce independent study projects into math courses, particularly those involving differential equations. In 1997, Coleman retired and was honored as a Harvey Mudd professor emeritus, and the Harvey Mudd Alumni Association named him an Honorary Alumnus. He continued to teach courses at the College into the early 2000s.

“When I joined the math department in 1989, Courtney Coleman was one of my role models,” says Art Benjamin, associate chair and Smallwood Family Professor of Mathematics. “He was beloved by students and faculty for his wonderful teaching, his kindness and the respect he showed everyone. I will miss him dearly.”

Lisette de Pillis, mathematics professor and Norman F. Sprague, Jr. Professor of Life Sciences, joined Harvey Mudd in 1993 and is grateful for the opportunity to have observed Coleman interact with his colleagues and students for many years. “Courtney was a positive influence, kind and cheerful, and a well-liked teacher,” she says.

Coleman and his wife, Julia, were longtime donors and supporters of Harvey Mudd’s scholarships, programs and funds supporting mathematics. Coleman was preceded in death by Julia Coleman who died in 2012. He is survived by his three children, David Coleman, Margaret Coleman and Diane Chang, seven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Memories of Courtney

Donald Remer

Colleague

Courtney was a wonderful colleague who I could always discuss ideas with and get his opinion on challenging topics we faced at the college. He was cheerful, friendly, kind, and a real gentleman. He always had nice things to say about fellow faculty. Students I talked to really liked his teaching style. He will be missed.

Betty Edwards Johnson ’78

Student

Professor Coleman was a wonderful teacher and mentor. I had him for what was then called Applied Analysis (Math 113/114), which was one of the more useful classes I had at Mudd. In that class, I was introduced to the power of math modeling, a skill I used throughout my career. In the following year, even though I was a Physics major, Prof. Coleman recruited me to be on the Chevron Math Clinic Team, where, through many hours at the board, he continued to provide excellent encouragement and mentoring. He had a way of meeting us “where we were” and bringing out the best of our abilities. A master of not only mathematics, but teaching.

Jonathan Mersel ’75

Student

I had the honor of working with Professor Coleman for two summers of mathematics research. His kind and insightful mentoring made those summers exceptional. I also had the pleasure of seeing the collaboration of Professor Coleman with Professor Borrelli which resulted in many thousands of pages of manuscripts and some wonderful books. He will always have a warm place in my heart.

Steve Itelson ’70

My prof and senior advisor

Professor Coleman was my senior advisor. He encouraged me to distinguish between vocation and avocation. I neglected my senior year math classes, focused instead on teaching and keeping men out of the draft. He was superb at explaining differential equations and a pleasure to chat with about HMC and political activism.

Fredric Gey ’62

Student

I graduated in 1962 with a BS in Mathematics. I remember Courtney (we became on a first name basis at our class’s 25 reunion) as one of the clearest explainers of math that I ever had. I took an independent study in differential equations with him in my senior year, but I rarely used what I learned even as a scientific programmer. The mathematics genealogy project says he only had 1 PhD student, but while I received my PhD in 1993 in probabilistic search algorithms, I feel every bit a descendent of Courtney as I do of my own dissertation chair at Berkeley.